


Nighttime Interlude

by bleedcolor



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Baby cuddles, Domesticity, Fluff, Introspection, Multi, Threesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-14 01:27:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29163396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bleedcolor/pseuds/bleedcolor
Summary: Severus contemplates his life and the love that fills it.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter/Severus Snape
Comments: 3
Kudos: 62





	Nighttime Interlude

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Likelightinglass](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Likelightinglass/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Birthday Cake](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25473838) by [Likelightinglass](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Likelightinglass/pseuds/Likelightinglass). 



> Written for Likelightinglass on the occasion of a birthday last year, finally posted. This ficlet was written using Light's Snamily premise, which I absolutely adore ♥ and posted with permission.

The baby's weight against his chest was always a surprising thing. For someone so small, so fragile, the boy was astonishingly solid with his head tucked into the crook of Severus' throat. In these moments, with Lily's child cuddled close, breathing in the warm, milky scent of Harry, a scent that clung to his robes for hours after, Severus wonders why it had taken him so long to realize. Hatred burned quick and bright, but it had nothing on the slow devouring heat of love.

In these quiet moments in the dark, listening to Harry's quick breaths as he sleeps, Severus wonders how he ever did without it. A floorboard creaks in the doorway of the nursery and reluctantly he begins the process of settling the baby down in his cot, smiling to himself at the way limp limbs fall into a starfish sprawl and the quick breathing turns into the faintest of snores. When he pulls the light blanket from the railing to spread over Harry, supplementing the warmth of his Gryffindor red onesie, thin arms wrap around his waist and Lily's slight weight presses against his back.

"How is he?" Her voice is quiet, but the child is sleeping deeply enough that he wouldn't stir if they were standing in the middle of a Quidditch pitch on game day.

"Asleep again," Severus says, absently stroking a dark curl back from Harry's brow and then turning against Lily's embrace. "The potion has a slight soporific effect, but his breathing is already better. He'll sleep through the night now, and likely have naught but a runny nose in the morning."

"Mmm," Lily's arms tighten around his middle and she shifts them until they're both looking over the rail of the cot again, her arms still wrapped around his middle. "The perks of having a potions expert for a father."

The words don't startle him anymore, the way they used to, but that blazing warmth starts in the pit of his stomach and rises through his chest. Imagine, Severus Snape the father of anyone or anything, never mind a bright and happy child such as this one, whose smiles light up the rooms like sunshine. He stares down at the baby silently for a moment, letting his love fill him up, before he clears his throat softly.

"You should sleep," he says. "If he does have any symptoms still in the morning, you'll need the rest."

He feels, rather than sees, Lily look up at him. "You need your rest too. You've been up almost all night." She squeezes gently around his waist again. "The monitoring spell will let us know if there's anything wrong."

He frowns, torn between the desire to stay and submerge himself in the peace of watching Harry sleep for the next several hours and the need for his own sleep, his eyes dry and prickling. Lily's urging is the tie-breaker, and Severus allows himself to be led out of the nursery and further down the hall to their bedroom.  


Even as tired as he is, the sight of James Potter spread out across their bedclothes, all shadowed pale skin in the moonlight streaming in from the window, is a rousing one.  


"I'm glad _someone_ is getting their rest, at least," Severus grumbles, even as he begins to pull off his dressing gown.

James grunts sleepily and rolls from where he's been sprawled--much like his son in the nursery--in the middle of the mattress to his side, leaving Severus room to slide into the middle and Lily her space on the opposite third of the bed. 

"Had him last night," comes the tired mutter from the depths of James' pillow, and Severus snorts, but is too tired to protest further, instead choosing to settle onto the bed and press his face into the comfortable hollow between James' shoulder blades. From behind him, Lily murmurs her own complaint, but sleep is already cottoning his thoughts, and he is too far gone to understand.

As she settles against him from behind, he allows it to pull him under completely, swallowed up by the warmth of love all around.


End file.
